State Farm Public Affairs Specialist Jose Soto and MDC Medical Campus President Dr. Armando Ferrer (center) with Medical Campus students who helped write the grant.

Miami, October 15, 2012 -
Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Medical Campus is among only 11 Florida organizations recently awarded a State Farm Youth Advisory Board grant. The grant totals more than $25,000 in support of The Toxic Truth – They’re Rich, You’re Dead, a smoking-prevention program geared toward middle and high school students established by MDC nursing, dental hygiene and respiratory therapy students.

The grant was achieved through collaboration between the MDC Foundation, the MDC Medical Campus and MDC’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy (iCED), which oversees service-learning and civic engagement programs college-wide.

The Toxic Truth is a two-part program. First, MDC Medical Campus nursing and health science students will present the program at two participating middle schools. MDC will then partner with two high school health career academies. Each high school will recruit 25 students to be trained as Toxic Truth peer educators by MDC students. The peer educators will receive a $1,000 smoking-prevention kit and will develop and implement anti-smoking/tobacco programs at their school. The program will kick off this month.

State Farm Youth Advisory Board awarded a total of more than $3.9 million in 2012 for youth-led, service-learning based projects to 68 organizations across the U.S. and Canada this year. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20 from across the U.S. and Canada, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative.

“State Farm supports service-learning because it integrates service to the community into classroom curriculum using a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,” said Jose Soto, State Farm community specialist. “The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a prime example of State Farm’s commitment to education, our community and our youth.”

To learn more about this and other MDC service-learning programs, please contact iCED Director Joshua Young at 305-237-7477, or visit www.mdc.edu/iCED.

Miami Dade College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees.
Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Miami Dade College.
Miami Dade College is an equal access/equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, marital status, age, religion, national origin,
disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or genetic information. Contact the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs/ADA Coordinator, at 305.237.2577 for information.